The new ownership structure of the French fashion group SMCP is now also reflected in the composition of the board of directors. At a shareholders’ meeting on Friday, the five representatives of the former major shareholder European TopSoho Sàrl, behind which the Chinese group Shandong Ruyi stands, left the board. In their place, Christophe Chenut, Xavier Véret and Natalia Nicolaidis have been appointed by the shareholders as independent directors.
On Monday, the new board of directors elected Christophe Cuvillier as chairman, SMCP said. The former CEO of the real estate company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has been a member of the board since last summer as an independent director.
This was preceded by a legal dispute between TopSoho and the GLAS consortium, in which former bondholders of the group, including the investment company Blackrock, had joined forces. After SMCP was unable to service a convertible bond last fall, the consortium acquired a total of 29 percent of the shares, making it the group’s largest single owner. GLAS then announced that it would change the composition of the Board of Directors accordingly, which TopSoho ultimately unsuccessfully tried to prevent by suing SMCP and GLAS.
The group of companies, which owns the brands Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and De Fursac, has so far emphasized that the latest turbulence has “no impact on the clothing supplier’s finances and operations”.
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